The present invention relates to a fluidic sorting device for the separation of two or more different materials or particles which are suspended in a fluid. The materials or particles to be separated may differ based on shape, texture, color, or any other visually distinctive characteristics. The particles may additionally differ in their visual reaction to an externally applied force, for example an electrostatic or magnetic field. The sorting device of the present invention comprises a fluidic logic element and a machine vision apparatus. An example of such a device is one which may sort different cells in the blood.
This invention enables one to program the apparatus to identify certain characteristics of particles. The function of the sorting device herein is to enable programmable automated sorting of a mixture of different particles or biological elements suspended in a fluid medium.
The use of fluidic assemblies for the sorting of various materials, for example chromosomes, is well known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,400, issued to Gray et al., teaches such an assembly. As a matter of fact, the Gray et al. reference further teaches, at column 6, lines 1-4, that their fluidic assembly sorting apparatus may use an optical sensor/detector.
The invention herein may be distinguished over the Gray et al. reference in that the Gray et al. patent is directed toward the sorting of chromosomes and may only be extended to sort particles of similar size. The reference apparatus further requires that the particle stream be broken up into droplets. Hence, the use of the sorting device patented by Gray et al. is limited to particles which can be encapsulated into a droplet. The invention herein is not so limited.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,400 requires the presence of a vibrating nozzle or a mechanism of some sort in which to form the required droplets. The invention herein uses no nozzle to break up any fluid flow. As a matter of fact, the present invention utilizes a continuous flow of suspended materials or particles in a liquid means and has no droplet formation requirement.
The patented invention further tags the solid particles in order to better identify them to be separated. This is done by electronic charge or by the use of fluorescent stain. The present invention has no such requirement. The invention herein separates the particles based on their natural appearance or on their natural reaction to being subjected to an external force such as a magnetic or electrostatic field.
Although reference has been made to blood cells or chromosomes, these particles have been used merely by way of example, and not with any intent to limit the invention to sorting only them. The present invention may be used to sort many different types and sizes of materials or particles. This invention is not limited to the separation or sorting of small particulate matter.